Inter-connected Cooling Efficiency (ICE)

ICE

Eaton Corporation estimates that 50% of the data center utility bill goes towards cooling the servers. They also proclaim that if this seems too high, it is. They recommend redirecting and concentrating the available airflow to the servers.

For years the traditional data center cooling systems have presented air to the cold aisle through the perforated tile. Air flowed by the bottom of the tile causing short cycles while also flowing by the front of the cabinet door as well. This causes the data center manager to add CRAC units to the data center while lowering set points to cool the room. The costs of this inefficiency add 40% to the costs of CRAC units and 40% to the electrical bill.

Triad Vs. Traditional

1. The tile should be constructed in a way that it ensures positive flow out of every part of the tile (no short cycling).

2. It should divert the air to the servers so it can penetrate the boundary layer of heat on the front side of the cabinet or rack.

3. It should be able to “stratify” the air to the top of the cold aisle. Servers need a constant flow of air to keep them cool.

Redirecting and concentrating the air to the server can improve the efficiency of the cooling system. Triad Floors has created ICE – Inter-Connected Cooling Efficiency to address this problem. ICE is a system designed to redirect and concentrate the air to the server. It takes advantage of the Triad High-Plume Fin. The Triad High-Plume Fin has four, patented airflow components to it. The effect of the fin causes the air to bend into the front of the cabinet. This improves the cooling capabilities of the available air.

ICE takes this one step further by channeling the air into the front of the server by using the same, patented effects of the tile within the cabinet door. By using the High-Plume Fin on the tile you are able to create a dispersed airflow to the front of the cabinet and by adding a fin to the front of the door you take the flow of air and concentrate it to the front of the server. This creates a “River” flow of air directly into the server fan by redirecting and concentrating the air to the server. In the end, it is not how much air you have but how effective you are with the air you have. By connecting the tile airflow with the front of the server cabinet, you can improve AUE by several points.